PricewaterhouseCoopers
Forecasts Lodging Slump

LOS ANGELES -- PricewaterhouseCoopers is backing off its prediction of a hotel-industry boom in 2002 and is slicing its estimates for lodging performance this year as well.

The New York consulting company told its hotel clients Friday that revenue per available room, a measure of room price and occupancy, will fall slightly this year for only the second time in the 32 years such data have been tracked.